Hot Off the Press- My new pix of Toronto

[Taller, Better]

I love old Victorian greenhouses! Sure they are kind of stuffy but I think they
are dead romantic. Especially when summer takes its time to make an appearance!

[ronald]

The Allan Gardens remind me of the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton. The Muttart Conservatory has more of a 'biodome' character though, while Allan Gardens seem more Victorian. Both are nice though, wish we had similar indoor gardens here to escape the winter for a few moments.

[mello]

TO is looking sick as fark! I love it. It seems like the condo boom is showing no signs of slowing. Now if we could only transport Toronto to Perth's or Cape Town's location.

[Taller, Better]

Originally Posted by mello

TO is looking sick as fark! I love it. It seems like the condo boom is showing no signs of slowing. Now if we could only transport Toronto to Perth's or Cape Town's location.

Or better still, send us your weather! Specially right now
on the cusp of summer.... we're gaggin' fer it!
I'll take more pics tomorrow, as it is my day off.

[Taller, Better]

Yesterday was a lovely sunny day, so I grabbed my camera and went out snapping..
the first fellow is a bit of the "local colour" who wears this outfit year 'round and is always eager for any publicity!



Some pix taken more uptown, toward Yonge/Eglinton, and Yonge/Summerhill:



An old train station beautifully renovated into the largest and best liquor store in Canada-an 8000 sq metre Temple o' Booze:





Then hop on the subway and head downtown:











these shots were all on Bloor St, and here is one looking West:



Back on the subway, and right downtown to the financial district:













Then a wander over to Queen Street, and the entertainment district:



Dinner at the Queen Mum, in an old building that started out as a tailor shop in 1850



Catch a movie ( Ice Age 2):





And up the long escalators.......



View out the lounge window after the movie:



then the walk home- here is the almost completed new home of the Canadian Opera
Company, that will open this year with a series of four epic operas Der Ring des Nibelungen:



and finally, as Samuel Pepys famously said "and then to bed"!

[algonquin]

it's Zanta! He's a TO celebrity...

[Taller, Better]

Originally Posted by algonquin

it's Zanta! He's a TO celebrity...

Indeed. He is bigger than Ed the Sock.

[Filip]

That guy's completely insane...

Btw TB I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOU (in a forumish way) THANKS finally some nice pics of the Manulife headquarters!

[ditto]

I seriously need to steal this Klingon Bird of Prey to complete my collection.

[Doc Halladay]

Nice pics. 1KW looks awesome as usual. That building is god-like.

[Taller, Better]

Originally Posted by Filip

That guy's completely insane...

Btw TB I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOU (in a forumish way) THANKS finally some nice pics of the Manulife headquarters!

LOL! Right back atcha! (metaphorically speaking!!)

[QUOTE=ditto]I seriously need to steal this Klingon Bird of Prey to complete my collection.
QUOTE]

All yours Ditto! Fill yer boots!

[BuffCity]

nice tour, good shots.

[Marco Polo]

S U P R E M E !!!!!!

[Taller, Better]

I know this seems a bit "bloggish", but here are some pics from my past week. I
like to jump on the subway or streetcar and photograph some of the neighbourhoods
in Toronto. This week I was briefly in Little Italy/Portugal, and yesterday I visited
The Beaches (or, as some yuppies insist, the grander sounding "The Beach"!).
I will start with a few pix from Little Italy:





The Beaches is an area about a mile or so due East of downtown. There are several
lovely beaches there, and it is about as closest thing to Vancouver life that exists
East of the Rockies. Fiercely proud and very family oriented, the Beaches are always
an excellent place to visit on a sunny day. As always, my pix are in no particular order,
just snapped as I go along my wanderings. Let's start with the 1850's Ashbridge House, which still charms us to this day:



The beach I chose to go to yesterday was Kew Beach, in the heart of "The Beaches".
It is still too early for sunbathing, but the charming Victorian habit of "promenading on
the boardwalk" is still a big part of life in the beaches. Yesterday was no exception and
the boardwalk was crowded all afternoon:







Even the housing is different in The Beaches... because there is very much a
"seaside" feeling (albeit on a lake), much of the residential architecture has a
mediterranean flair, with an emphasis on outdoor balconies:





the quaint old 1915 Beaches Library:



and some street scenes:













The Beaches has a bit of a reputation as being a laid-back, hippie community
which stems from the 70's. Remnents remain. This is the Church of the Universe:



Let's catch the streetcar and head toward downtown.



Here are scenes along the way:

St Paul's Basilica.. a Roman Catholic church which is an unusual Italian Renaissance
style:





The old 1879 Dominion Brewery, since renovated for office space:



and various downtown shots:












Our Lady of Lourdes Church across from the No Thrills in Jamestown:













Here is an empty old Georgian style brick building, almost 200 years old.
Handsome, but in poor shape... will this survive into its third century?





More downtown buildings:



a smart old Greek Revival townhouse from the 1850's:



an old Knights of Columbus hall:



a landmark hotel, The Selby, whose claim to fame was having Ernest Hemingway as a tenant while he lived in Toronto as a reporter for The
Toronto Star:



Victorian rowhouses..



and various downtown sights:



men playing chess:



an old library built in the now toney Yorkville, by the Carnegie Foundation,
about 100 years ago:





an old mid 1800's firehall in Yorkville:





evening sets in:







Construction is everywhere downtown, and only rests at night:

[Filip]

Great pics TB!!!

[Skybean]

The Beach or The Beaches?!

Thanks for the tour, you make your way around to quirky places.

[salvius]

Please keep this 'blog' rolling, I love to see the new pics.

[Taller, Better]

Thanks guys! I don't know about you, but I feel weird saying "The Beach"! LOL! I figure if it was good enough for them to carve "The Beaches" in stone on the front of the library in 1915, then it is good enough for me to say it today! More pix will follow... I am just patiently awaiting green leaves and cherry blossoms! Have lots of nice pix from last year, but am trying to keep this thread fresh with only brand new pictures. Here is a pic that only Torontonians will recognise that I saw on the streetcar coming home from the Beaches. "Jilly's Girls Girls Girls"!! Where the girls, apparently,
never stop!

[parisuite]

wow amazing pics! I really enjoyed them all ;]

[Taller, Better]

Thanks pairsuite! I will take more pix once all the blossoms come out!